Lawyer: Hasan intent on getting death sentence FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — On the first day Maj. Nidal Hasan went on trial in a fight for his life, he claimed responsibility for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood. He posed no questions to most witnesses and rarely spoke. On one of the few times he did talk, it was to get on the record that the alleged murder weapon was his, even though no one had asked. The Army psychiatrist sometimes took notes while acting as his own attorney, but he mos...

Group: Apps not effective tool for teaching babies WASHINGTON (AP) — Smartphones don’t make smart babies, an advocacy group declared Wednesday in a complaint to the government about mobile apps that claim to help babies learn. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, whose allegations against “Baby Einstein” videos eventually led to nationwide consumer refunds, is urging federal regulators to examine the marketing practices of Fisher-Price’s “Laugh & Learn” mobile apps and Open Solutions’...

Cleveland house in kidnap, rape case is demolished CLEVELAND (AP) — With several swipes from the arm of an excavator and applause from spectators, a house where three women were held captive and raped for a decade was demolished Wednesday, reduced to rubble in less than an hour and a half. The demolition had the look of a neighborhood celebration, but some residents have been troubled by guilt for failing to notice tell-tale signs of the women’s imprisonment, like windows boarded up from the i...

More Powerball players seeking big jackpots only DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The allure of capturing the estimated $425 million Powerball jackpot had players in a buying frenzy Wednesday, further confirming a trend that lottery officials say has become the big ticket norm: Fatigued Powerball players, increasingly blase about smaller payouts, often don’t get into the game until the jackpot offers big bucks. Meghan Graham, a convenience store worker from Brookline, Mass., has purchased nearly a do...

As al-Qaida grows, leaders remain a global threat WASHINGTON (AP) — Far from being on the brink of collapse, al-Qaida’s core leadership remains a potent threat — and one that experts say has encouraged the terror network’s spread into more countries today than it was operating in immediately after 9/11. President Barack Obama, who ordered the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, has described al-Qaida’s headquarters as “a shadow of its former self” and his spokesman Jay Carney has calle...

Eyebrow waxing and cafe lattes at the drugstore? At some Walgreen stores, there are health clinics staffed by nurse practitioners, cafes that sell barista-prepared coffee and Eyebrow Bars where trained professionals groom unruly facial hair. Oh, and pharmacists fill prescriptions, too. The nation’s major drugstore chains are moving beyond simply doling out drugs and Kleenex. They’re opening more in-store clinics and offering more health care products in part to serve an aging population that...

Father of Pa. shooting suspect: Son gave warnings A man charged with killing three people at a Pennsylvania municipal meeting because of a feud over his junk-strewn property had given plenty of warning that he intended to kill people, his father said Wednesday. Rockne Newell told his father and others that he planned to kill officials in rural Ross Township, saying he had nothing left to lose because he’d already been forced off the land, said the father, Pete Newell. “He said, ‘My life’s ove...

US consumer borrowing rose $13.8 billion in June WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans borrowed more in June to buy cars and attend schools. But they were frugal again with their credit cards, as many remain wary of taking on high-interest debt. Consumers increased their borrowing $13.8 billion in June from May to a seasonally adjusted $2.85 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its monthly report on consumer credit. That’s the highest level ever. The category that includes credit card debt ...

No bomb found on Philly plane despite threat call PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A bomb threat investigation that prompted a search of a trans-Atlantic flight and questioning of its passengers has turned up nothing suspicious, officials said. US Airways Flight 777 from Shannon, Ireland, landed in an isolated part of Philadelphia International Airport on Wednesday afternoon and was met on the tarmac by fire trucks and federal and local authorities. A telephone threat about a bomb was made about the plane...

Study ties higher blood sugar to dementia risk Higher blood-sugar levels, even those well short of diabetes, seem to raise the risk of developing dementia, a major new study finds. Researchers say it suggests a novel way to try to prevent Alzheimer’s disease — by keeping glucose at a healthy level. Alzheimer’s is by far the most common form of dementia and it’s long been known that diabetes makes it more likely. The new study tracked blood sugar over time in all sorts of people — with and ...

Friend: Suspected Calif abductor had crush on girl LAKESIDE, Calif. (AP) — A man suspected of abducting a 16-year-old girl told her he had a crush on her and would date her if they were the same age, a friend of the girl said Wednesday as police searched for the man who is also wanted in the death of the girl’s mother and possibly her 8-year-old brother. James Lee DiMaggio explained that he didn’t want the girls to think he was weird in an effort to defend himself after noticing they exchanged...

Clients drop $180 for bird poop facials at NYC spa NEW YORK (AP) — Bird poop for beauty? That’s what goes into facials at a luxury spa where the traditional Japanese treatment using imported Asian nightingale excrement mixed with rice bran goes for $180 a pop. About 100 women and men go into the Shizuka New York skin care salon, just off Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, each month to get the treatment, which is promoted as a way to keep the face soft and smooth using an enzyme in the poop to gently e...

Fledgling 3-D printing industry finds home in NYC NEW YORK (AP) — It looks like a bakery. A warm glow emanates from the windows of big, oven-like machines, and a dusting of white powder covers everything. This space in an anonymous building in New York’s Long Island City neighborhood, just across the river from Manhattan, isn’t cooking up breads and pastries, however. It’s a factory, filled with 3-D printers “baking” items by blasting a fine plastic dust with lasers. When a production run is ...

US embassy closures a window into threat concern WASHINGTON (AP) — The map of closed American embassies — and those that remain open — in the Middle East and Africa provides a window into the Obama administration’s concern about a potentially imminent al-Qaida terrorist attack on overseas U.S. interests. While diplomatic missions across a broad swath of the Arab world are affected, some, including in capitals that have been targets for extremists in the past, are not. And those chosen for cl...

Fort Hood gunman meticulously planned attack FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan fired the last of 146 bullets in his assault on Fort Hood, then walked outside where he met two civilians who asked about the commotion and the laser-sighted pistol in his hand. Hasan told one person not to worry. He assured the other it was just a training exercise and the gun shot only paint. He let both live. But moments earlier, dozens of uniformed soldiers received no quarter from Hasan, pros...

Post-Romney, some in GOP reject advice to moderate WASHINGTON (AP) — After Mitt Romney’s 2012 loss, many senior Republicans concluded the party must moderate its image on issues such as immigration and reproductive rights. But some GOP lawmakers have done the opposite. They imposed new restrictions on abortion in several states. They are strongly resisting a broad immigration bill in the U.S. House. They’re waging a steady assault on “Obamacare,” with some House and Senate Republicans vowing t...

Drunk walking leads to pedestrian fatalities WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as drinking and driving can be deadly, so can drinking and walking. Over a third of the pedestrians killed in 2011 had blood alcohol levels above the legal limit for driving, according to government data released Monday. Thirty-five percent of those killed, or 1,547 pedestrians, had blood alcohol content levels of .08 or higher, the legal limit for driving, according to data reported to the National Highway Traffic Safet...

President George W. Bush has stent procedure Former President George W. Bush successfully underwent a heart procedure in Dallas on Tuesday after doctors discovered a blockage in an artery during his annual physical, Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said. “At the recommendation of his doctors, President Bush agreed to have a stent placed to open the blockage,” Ford said. “The procedure was performed successfully this morning, without complication, at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.” Bush, 6...

Reports: First charges filed in Benghazi attack WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has filed the first criminal charges in the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, news reports said Tuesday. CNN, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal reported that unspecified counts had been filed and sealed in the September 2012 attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. CNN said the charges named Ahmed Abu Khattalah, a Libyan militia leader. The...